good afternoon. ireland's prime minister has said the country has voted "resoundingly" for the historic reform of its strict anti—abortion laws. the main no campaign has conceded defeat in the country's referendum. the votes are still being counted, but exit polls suggest two thirds of people have backed change. the government has said it will now amend the law, allowing all women terminations in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. our ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. more emphatically than anyone predicted, ireland has voted for change. exit polls indicated a landslide in favour of repealing the controversial law which has restricted access to abortion for so long. i am in shock. we were looking at 58%. 68%, absolutely crazy. people are more accepting, i think, than we thought they were. i think we underestimated the irish people in a way. we are writing around the last 35 years.

before midday, the no campaign conceded defeat. obviously we are very sad if the exit polls are the results, which certainly looks to be the case. i think what we will have to do now is see where we go from here as a movement and where we will be going from here is to hold the government to account for what they said. the irish government now plans to bring forward legislation to allow abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. something opponents say they will continue to campaign against. even in an issue that is as deeply emotive and personal to people as this one, that is the right way to do it. what's more, by the way, you can still passionately believe that the decision of the people is wrong, as i happen to do. the official declaration is expected this afternoon, but already the tally tells us a great deal. large piles of yes votes and the realisation that ireland may have changed as a country, more than anyone believed. with more than 3 million people registered to vote,

it's thought this referendum saw a higher turnout than the country's same—sex marriage vote in 2015. an intense campaign at an end and ireland on the brink of a new era. this country was once seen as one of the most socially conservative in europe. but today is another benchmark showing how much attitudes have moved on. the official declaration will be here in the next few hours but already the focus has shifted to looking at how soon the irish government can bring forward legislation to put into action the democratic will of people that been expressed today. when that happens it will be an end to the thousands of irish women who travel to britain to access abortions there. a fact that has played a big part in this campaign. thousands more liverpool fans have been arriving in ukraine's capital kiev ahead of tonight's

champions league final against real madrid. the spanish side are the bookies' favourite, but liverpool fans are convinced their team can win. david ornstein reports from kiev. the capital of ukraine. tonight, the centre of the sporting world, moments to be treasured for supporters who have waited 11 years to be back on this stage and made it to kiev. i feel sorry for the people who have not been able to get here. we are made up to be here. the atmosphere is incredible. beautiful city. i genuinely see it 3—0 liverpool. the fans are a massive part of this club, a massive part of liverpool and they have played a massive part in us getting this far. hopefully we can then create an atmosphere similar to anfield because it's made a big difference to us. liverpool's journey started in the qualifying rounds on the 15th of august. they are the competition's top scorers and plan to embellish

their famous history. i'm really happy being here with this group of players. they've fought so unbelievably hard for this and i really think they deserve it, to be here, and it feels good. i'm really proud of them already and now, let's play football. inside the hotel behind me, liverpool are preparing for the biggest game of their lives. in just a few hours, they will make the shortjourney from here to the olympic stadium and attempt to win club football's most sought—after prize. the pressure is all on madrid. i think it is great being the underdog and i think probably that is whatjurgen klopp has been saying to them all week, no one expects us to win and my gut feeling is, i don't know how they are going to do it but ijust think that liverpool will win the competition. nobody has done that more than real madrid. they are synonymous with the trophy and hope to lift it for a third consecutive year. in liverpool, though, they face

a club, team and fan base with an unsha keable belief that this is their time. it's a repeat of the 1981 final which liverpool one and their aim is to do the same again. there will be around 70,000 to do the same again. there will be around 70 , 000 spectators to do the same again. there will be around 70,000 spectators in the ground and many millions more watching around the world. the mood is one of great excitement and the glory is within sight. the kick—off is 7:45pm. mps say a programme to protect afghan civilians who worked as interpreters for the british army has been a "dismalfailure". the defence select committee says the so—called intimidation scheme has failed to relocate any interpreters to the uk, even when their lives have been threatened by the taliban. the government says britain is the only nation that has a team in kabul to try to protect them. south korea's president moonjae—in has met north korean leader kim jong—un today —

for more talks aimed at resurrecting the planned summit with donald trump. it's the second meeting between the two leaders in the demilitarised zone dividing the two countries. south korea say they will announce the outcome of the talks tomorrow. the government has referred the owner of boots to the competition authorities, over the prices it's charging the nhs for some drugs. an investigation — by the times newspaper — found that walgreens boots alliance is charging more than £1,000 for some medicines, which can be bought for a few pounds. our business correspondent joe lynam is here. what is the explanation and the background? we are talking about drugs called specials, highly specialised, made to order at very short notice drugs for the nhs made by specialised technicians. they make up only a sliver of the overall drugs market for the nhs but nonetheless the figures being demand by walgreens from the nhs for its

drugs on the surface appear extraordinary. £3200 charged to the nhs for arthritis tablets which, in some circumstances, could be procured for as little as £1. as you can see, there are other examples. 2600 four specialist sleeping pills. also for curable for as little as £1. walgreens boots alliance, which owns the retailer boots, is not disputing the figures obtained by the times in their investigation but flatly rejecting the claim they are overcharging the nhs. they are stressing these are specialised drugs and i'd disputing whether the government and the competition authority. the department of health which referred the matter to the cna said patients and tax payers will ta ke said patients and tax payers will take a very dim view of a company overcharging the nhs will stop nhs england says any company that rips

off taxpayers will face the full force of the civil and criminal enforcement. now with all the rest of the day's sport, here's mike bushell at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. it could be a historic day for britain's chris froome as he looks to become the first briton to win the giro d'italia. he's got a 40—second lead, after reeling in fellow brit simon yates yesterday. he's in the main peloton, as the riders head into the mountains on stage 20. froome is also aiming to be only the third man to win all three grand tours in succession. yates is struggling again and after leading this race for so many days, his chance now seems to have gone. to lord's, where england have a battle to stay in the first test of the summer against pakistan. pakistan finished their first innings 179 runs ahead and england have since lost alastair cook, lbw to mohammad abbas. then the out—of—form mark stoneman was bowled by shadab khan. england are 37—2, still 148 runs behind pakistan. in football, as well as the champions league final, there's another huge match at wembley today —

as aston villa play fulham in the championship play off final. kick off is at five o'clock. and it's a match that could be worth up to £280—million for the winner. fulham are looking to return to the premier league after a four—year absence. villa have been away for two, and their boss steve bruce says these are the days he relishes. and there's times, when, you know, it's a difficultjob and a lonely job and even this morning i'm having breakfast on my own. as soon as i get — as soon as i get near the staff, up they go. do i smell? or do ijust — that's the way it is? but certainly, certainly, you look back at the big occasions and hopefully, it is another big occasion, it is only a big occasion if you win. the two form teams in english rugby — saracens and exeter — go head to head in the premiership final at twickenham later. 0ur rugby union reporter chrisjones will be watching. these two are the pre—eminent forces in the english club game at the moment. forget about traditional powerhouses like bath and gloucester, northampton and leicester.

it is all about saracens and exeter. saracens won the title in 2015 and 2016. exeter capped their remarkable journey from the championship to the summit of english rugby by winning the title last year in 2017 so it is all set up magnificently. lovely morning down here in london and we have the two best teams, the best coached teams and some fantastic head—to—head catchups on display today. matchups on display today. also the final of the pro14 later and can scarlets stop european champions leinster? good question. leinster on the verge of history after the stirring champions cup victory spearheaded by senior coach stuart lancaster, once of england, of course. but scarlets are the defending champions and took glasgow apart in the semifinal. it's a clash of styles and a contrast. it is in dublin which gives leinster a huge advantage. it's qualifying day for the monaco grand prix, and it's been an eventful third

practice session this morning. max verstappen had got off to a flyer, but crashed into the wall at the swimming pool chicane — it's the dutchman's fifth crash in monaco in four years and he's left his red bull team with a hefty repairjob ahead of qualifying at two o'clock. better from his team—mate daniel ricciardo who set his third lap record on the track. and rory mcilroy is about to get his third round under way at the pga championship at wentworth. he still leads by three shots. after his seven under par round yesterday, so mcilroy is 12 under for the tournament, while england's ross fisher has had a good day so far, moving to 6 under. that's all for now on the champions league final day. thanks, mike. that's all for now. the next news on bbc one is at 5.35. you're watching the bbc news channel.

it's now 12 minutes past one. let's return now to the vote in ireland on abortion laws. irish taoiseach leo varadkar has said the country is united and has voted "resoundingly" in favour of yes in the abortion referendum. this comes after opponents of liberalising the law have admitted defeat. the official result will be announced this afternoon, but exit polls suggest voters opted by more than two—to—one in favour of change. joining me now from dublin is our correspondent nuala mcgovern. good afternoon. hello, welcome to dublin and in particular to dublin castle. this, just behind the walls, is where the ballot boxes have been opened in the past few hours and people are furiously counting. we are expecting an official result in the coming hours but viewers have probably seen that there were two significant exit

polls last night, that have projected a resounding success for the yes campaign. they are the people that were campaigning to remove language inserted into the constitution in 1983, 35 years ago, that gave the same rights to the on—board as to the mother and thus effectively banned abortion in the republic of ireland. —— to the unborn child. i have a couple of women who have been thinking about it very deeply that i want to bring to you, tara flynn has been at the forefront of the yes campaign, you are seeing some of the exit polls coming in and if they are correct, what does this mean for you? this means freedom, to be honest with you. it means equality but it also means that for women like me, i had to travel for an abortion in 2006, women like me will be able to get ca re women like me will be able to get care here in ireland and that is so significant, do not feel exiled or shunned. it is a very significant day. audrey carville, the irish

broadcaster, you have watched those debates so closely, did you expect the exit polls would come out like this? i didn't expect it, other media commentators did not expect it but those who have been campaigning for appeal of the eighth amendment 435 years, 20 years or ten years, expected it because they knew what conversations we re expected it because they knew what conversations were taking place among irish people and families and and friends. they knew attitudes had changed and were changing all the time. thanks mostly to people and women like tara and others who were courageous women like tara and others who were courageous in telling their stories, who were courageous in telling their stories, who were courageous courageous in telling their stories, who were courageous to courageous in telling their stories, who were courageous to come courageous in telling their stories, who were courageous to come to the fall and tell people of their experiences and to shed that stigma and secrecy and shame that has befallen so many irish women for the la st 35 befallen so many irish women for the last 35 years. tara, how long does it take, did it take, for some of the veils of shame to fall away?” mean, i don't think they are com pletely mean, i don't think they are completely gone yet, i think that will be part of the next step, when

people see that this guy does not fall in because people can access health care here, which we are entitled to access abroad. i think the shame piece is something ireland has to deal with on so many levels. mental health, all kinds of stigma exist, and shame around those issues. we need to talk about that and that is the next part of the healing process, ithink. is and that is the next part of the healing process, i think. is healing needed after this referendum?m healing process, i think. is healing needed after this referendum? if the exit poll is correct then almost 70% of the country voted yes and 30% voted no and that 30% as a deeply held objection to abortion in all circumstances. so they exist and they say they will fight and continue to campaign against any legislation which will liberalise the abortion laws. so what can people expect? i mentioned the results from dublin castle, maybe this afternoon, let's say 4pm, 5pm, but what about the actual legislation? today is no different to yesterday, nor will tomorrow be

when it comes to actually accessing abortion. that is the point, today at least nine women will still be travelling from ireland to the uk foran travelling from ireland to the uk for an abortion. they will be travelling on monday and tuesday next week, until the legislation is brought forward, the situation will remain as it is. the plan the government houses for the legislation to be brought forward as quickly as possible, as speedily as possible and the legislation in a nutshell is to allow abortion up to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy without a specific reason given and then after that, between 12—24 weeks, an abortion would be legal in the case of fatal foetal abnormality ora the case of fatal foetal abnormality or a clear the case of fatal foetal abnormality ora clearand the case of fatal foetal abnormality or a clear and substantial risk to the life and health of the woman. does your campaign stop today?” need a bit of a rest i think but we will keep an eye on what is happening with the legislation and we need to talk about northern ireland, our sisters in northern ireland, our sisters in northern ireland have campaigned with us, campus and marched with us and we will have to hightail it to belfast

and stand with them next. they continue to have among the strictest abortion laws in europe, of course, this is a time of brexit, hard or soft border, we don't know but it could mean women from northern ireland coming south to access abortion. i think that will be inevitable unless the law changes in northern ireland, the 1967 act was never extended to northern ireland for a variety of reasons, primarily among them, it is a very christian society, a very religious society so there were always deeply held objection is to extending the act there. like women in the republic of ireland, women in the north of ireland, women in the north of ireland have had to travel for terminations as well but when the legislation is brought into place in the republic, they can drive two hours across the border to available abortion services in the republic. thank you forjoining us. ijust wa nt to thank you forjoining us. ijust want to let the viewers know as well that many of the no campaign guests cancelled on us, they are very welcome, they can come and speak to us welcome, they can come and speak to us and they can see us here, and we

would love to have them if they want to speak to us but a bit difficult to speak to us but a bit difficult to get their voices on right now. a resounding win expected for the yes campaign. dott mulla mcgovern in dublin. —— mulla mcgovern in dublin. to clarify that is the 1967 abortion act that was referenced earlier. for all the latest as the count gets under way in this referendum, just go to our website. there, you'll analysis and all the latest on the results. and when the declaration comes of the finalfigures. that's all at bbc.co.uk/news. there's been a stark warning this morning from the eu main negotiator that the uk could be heading for "no deal" after brexit. michel barnier says that failing to agree a deal on the european court ofjustice would mean no treaty and no transition period. he's also described british delays in spelling out what kind of trade relationship london wants as "a game of hide and seek". former hollywood film mogul harvey weinstein has been released on $1 million bail after being charged in new york

with rape and sexual abuse. mr weinstein also agreed to wear a gps tracker and to surrender his passport after turning himself in to police on friday. he denies non—consensual sex and his lawyer said he would plead not guilty. rose mcgowan, one of the first people to go public with allegations against him, gave her reaction to his arrest. he tied with god for thanks at the oscars. and to see that constantly, and to live in that town — i was there by myself since i was 15 — and to see people just lay wreaths at his feet even though they knew, today is a good day. this is a big strike into the heart of abuse of power and it shows people worldwide, which was what i was hoping the whole time, that this cannot and will not stand. a 15—year—old boy has been stabbed in nottingham. police was called at 10 last night to alfreton road in the radford area of the city.

the boy has injuries to his leg, but they aren't believed to life—changing. some tsb customers are still having problems making online payments five weeks after the bank first reported problems. the difficulties started when the bank switched its it systems. a number of current account customers and some business clients are unable to fully access their accounts online or via the mobile app. the bank has also admitted to the bbc that there has been a rise in fraud incidents. it's being billed as bbc music's biggest weekend — with huge name stars to back that up. ed sheeran, taylor swift and sam smith arejust a few of those performing in swansea this weekend. it's not just wales getting involved though — all four nations are getting their own huge event with perth, coventry and belfast also hosting. earlier, i spoke to our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba, who's in swansea, about what we can expect over the weekend.

this is one of the biggest music events of the year. it is a four—day festival happening in four locations across the four nations. each of those places hosting something tied into a bbc radio network. here, it is bbc radio1 so lots of acts like we have just been hearing taylor swift, people like that, and also people like george ezra. i spoke to him a bit earlier about his amazingly successful year and also how much he enjoyed and what it was like playing at festivals like this where people are not necessarily fans who know the music inside out. there is an excitement to that because you always have to give your best show but there is an element of, let's, like... keep them! and there's also, of course, people who are at festivals to forget, it's like an antidote to everything else going on, i think. it's like a kind of weekend where you can forget anything else and i really think everybody embraces that which is lovely. now one of the reason this biggest weekend is happening across the uk is because this is a year when glastonbury isn't happening.

glastonbury takes a fallow year every five or six years or so and this is one of those. so the bbc thought this was a tremendous opportunity to try and underline the importance it places on music, how it breaks through to people of all ages and backgrounds and to really cement in the public‘s mind the bbc‘s commitment to music of all kinds and it is notjust those big pop acts appearing here. i mean, behind me we will see the likes of ed sheeran on stage at 12 o'clock, we will see people like florence + the machine, taylor swift, george ezra, lieam payne, clean bandit, years and years, you know, the list goes on and on. but they wanted to highlight the range of music they do, so for instance, yesterday and today at belfast‘s titanic shipways, it is a 6 music hosted event with people like the manic street preachers and fatherjohn misty. in coventry and perth, they have got radio 2 and radio 3 events, classical musicians like nigel kennedy playing, jazz musicians like jamie cullum. and so one of the points of this, obviously, they want to entertain

the public with a whole range of different music but it is to try and say we have a strong relationship at the bbc with both the artists and the public. now the atmosphere is building here but the weather, unfortunately, is not looking as good as it could. we have got the threat of thunder and lightning perhaps later and certainly quite a lot of rain but for the time being, the fans are flooding in. we're probably going to have about 30,000 people here today and they are really looking forward to a bank holiday weekend of really enjoyable live music. sir richard branson has told the bbc he's training to be an astronaut. the virgin boss, who for years has been working on his own commercial space programme, is hoping to take his first trip in a matter of months. ben ando reports. first, it was planes. then boats. then balloons. train horn blares. and then trains. but a decade and a half ago, sir richard branson set his sights

even higher, creating virgin galactic with the aim of offering affordable space tourism — affordable, that is, if you could afford the $250,000 ticket price. now, at the age of 67, sir richard has revealed that he is training hard, ready to be fired into space. i am going for my astronaut training, going for my fitness training, going through centrifuge and other training so that my body can cope, hopefully cope well with it when i get into space. how are you getting on? so far, so good. i like to keep fit anyway, so, but no, i mean, to go into space, if you are going to really enjoy your experience, the fitter you can be, the better. when he launched virgin galactic, sir richard expected to be spaceborne by 2010, but technical problems and the disastrous crash in 2014 in which a test pilot died have caused delay on delay. and the competition is catching up, with entrepreneur elon musk and jeff bezos, the founder of amazon, now apparently leading

a charge to get paying tourists into orbit. sir richard knows in this privatised space race, the countdown is on. australia may be in the grip of winter — but one city's bathing in an unseasonally warm glow. sydney's playing host to the vivid light festival — an annual celebration of colour, culture and art. andy beatt reports. the sydney nightscape lit up like never before, some of the city's most iconic images illuminated by a kaleidoscope of colours. it's so well done that it looks like it's almost just like a tipping tv. you can't even tell it's a projection or anything. it's just very fluid. it's the tenth time the light festival's been staged here. this year may be the biggest and brightest yet. i just think the lights are spectacular. the characterisation is phenomenal in the lights and they're

using the architecture of the buildings just perfectly. 90 installations have magically transformed landmarks, with visitors urged to enter a world of childish delight. look — there he is! organisers say the displays draw on australian culture and the local environment. the inspiration was really the creative act in kind of a cosmic sense and also in an individual sense as an artist and then beyond that became the australian flora and fauna and nature and geology and all the things that make it such a unique place. last year, nearly 2.5 million people enjoyed the event, bringing a $100 million boost to the economy. with the spotlight remaining on sydney for the next three weeks, that could soon be outshone. a great way to banish the winter

blues but i'm not sure the prospects look so good here in the uk. time for the weather with tomasz schafernaker. let's shine a light on that and the weather, not looking too bad because most of us so far have enjoyed a fine day with some sunshine around but there is a risk of thunderstorms this evening and indeed, the rest of the bank holiday weekend. at the moment, showers across south—western areas. as we go through this afternoon, we will see storms building across the south, rolling off the english channel and sweeping in this general direction. that means central southern england, parts of the midlands, wales, eventually, will get storms. some of them will be really nasty, frequent thunder and lightning, hail and gusty wind as well. notice that further north, there's absolutely no of storms, a very muggy night and a

bit of a lull from the storms in the morning and once again, the same kind of areas get storms but they may end up in northern ireland by the afternoon. again, the north escapes. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. opponents of liberalising the law on abortion in ireland have admitted defeat in yesterday's referendum. the official result will be announced this afternoon. south korea says its president moonjae—in met the north korean leader kim jong—un for two hours today in the demilitarised border area between the two countries. a report in the iranian media says that nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — a british—iranian woman imprisoned in tehran — will face security—related charges in a second case being prepared against her. a government programme to protect afghan interpreters thank you for your company so far

this afternoon. now on bbc news — a special programme meeting the unique choir who played their part in celebrating the royal wedding of prince harry and meghan markle. inspired by prince harry's work around mental and physical health, gosp—ability is a diverse group of amateur singers made up of people facing mental and physical challenges of their own. the choir recorded a specially written song given to the couple as a wedding gift.